Justiniana Prima : Stranded Naves

An Arcadian landscape situated in the heart of the Balkans, away from the main roads of the modern time, hides an archaeological site known to locals as the Empress City. Although, this is not the empress, whose beauty complements the image of the greatest Byzantine ruler on the magnificent mosaics in Ravenna, it seems as though this name keeps the evidence of still unveiled plaque with its historic name. The hypothesis that the Empress City is actually Justiniana Prima was presented in 1922 by Professor Vladimir Petkovic, who was its first professional explorer. This riddle still levitates over continuous researches of archaeology, geology and bio-forensics. The story about this city relies on numerous facts about one of the most exciting constructions of the 6th century A.D. Archaeological and morphological expressiveness like no other, more than anything else, confirms the ruler’s fascination with the beauty of construction. The thrill of the fact that there is a truth which is impossible to track, creates the potentials of the architecture that renounces its recurred incidence and abides to its original idea. Thus, the narratives entwined in the structure of this text represent the architecture per se. The new chapters in access to this topic have been opened: 1) in the context of Sloterdijk, the relation between the society, symbols and their mythological confirmation are examined, 2) the Palladian approach reveals the erosion of the forms for the purpose of material evidence on the lapse of time, and 3) provides the Scruton-like conclusion on the superimposed spatial experience. In that sense, Justiniana Prima, just like the stranded naves, scrapes the horizons on the architectural voyage planned long time ago, where the size of material insufficiencies is proportionate to mythological fullness of the designed sublimity.